India a key global player, says Bernanke after banking talks

India is becoming a key player in the global economy, US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday after a meeting with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao.

“India is clearly becoming a more and more important player on the world stage, in the G20 context, in terms of its role in the global economy and I think it’s very useful for us to continue to exchange ideas and build the basis for a future collaboration,” said Bernanke.

Describing his first-ever visit as “very constructive”, which also makes him the first US Fed chairman to do so, Bernanke said he discussed policy challenges in both the US and India.

Bernanke, along with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, was on a two-day visit to India to participate in the third annual US-India economic and financial partnership meeting.

Both Geithner and Bernanke met Indian industry leaders in the morning and discussed various economic issues, including the latest round of reforms by the Indian government.

“We got briefed by both on the US economic situation,” said Adi Godrej, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and chairman, Godrej group. “We briefed them on India and said we were very confident now that the reform process is taking place.”

“I think their outlook is very positive,” said Chanda Kochhar, managing director and CEO, ICICI Bank. “Of course, everybody recognises that much more needs to be done as well. But I think their initial reaction is very positive.”